“Whilst we cannot be exactly sure what
the labyrinths were used for, they were clearly a symbol of the Christian
way, representing the path of the soul through life.”[3]
— About Labyrinths and Mazes.

I was struck by the
simplicity of the above statement: that labyrinths are “clearly a symbol of
the Christian way.” An interesting position, especially given the fact that
the authors of this particular quote admit, “we cannot be exactly sure what
the labyrinths were used for…”

We live in a day and
age where many “new things” are sweeping through the Christian church. Some
of these alternative directions are simply a reflection of changes in style
and format, particularly in the area of music, worship drama, and corporate
church structure. And each of these areas of change can open up a world of
debate and inter-church dialogue, which is not wrong in and of itself. After
all, “iron sharpens iron.”

However, in our
exploration towards alternative forms of spiritual expression – particularly
as we try to build relevancy in a post-modern culture – it is imperative
that doctrinal discernment and discretionary principles come into play. This
is especially true as society rapidly embraces a plethora of alternative
spiritual practices, beliefs, and paths. Sadly, we as Christians often
flounder in doing our homework, and in that vein we may inadvertently open
our congregations to highly questionable choices and spiritual experiences.

Paradoxically, while
the evangelical Christian community talks about “spiritual warfare” and
“putting on the full armor of God,” many of these same churches can be found
embracing that which they claim to counter. In seeking relevancy, we have
become dangerously “experiential” in nature, and old forms of mysticism are
becoming centerpieces in “experiences of faith.”

The labyrinth
prayer-walk, which follows a single winding path to a central location, is a
case in point. Primarily jump-started by a UK-based Christian movement in
alternative spiritual expressions and by an influential San Francisco
cathedral, denominations around the world are embracing labyrinths as a
viable part of the “spiritual journey.” But are labyrinths a part of the
Christian encounter, as suggested by the third introductory quote above?

My first experience
with a labyrinth happened years before the idea become faddish in Christian
circles. I was doing research work on occult philosophy at the Theosophical
headquarters in Wheaton, IL, and after spending a better part of the day
reviewing esoteric literature (Theosophy is a blend of mystical traditions,
ancient mystery religions, and eastern philosophies), I went for a walk
across the grounds to get some fresh air. There, toward the back of the
property was a labyrinth that had been set up as a place for spiritual
release and expression.

As a Christian
researcher and author on globalization – including the religious trends
accompanying our changing international situation – I wasn’t surprised by
the fact that a labyrinth was set up at this intensely occult location. It
made perfect sense.

Understand, Christians
looking for ways of bringing in new relevancy within church worship did not
“rediscover” the labyrinth as a spiritual tool. As we shall see, it’s been
part of the esoteric world for a very long time. Which is why, today,
labyrinth walks and “prayer journeys” are being promoted by Rosicrucian
groups,[4]
at New Age festivals and celebrations,[5]
and throughout the neo-pagan world. Not surprisingly, one of America’s
largest witch, shaman, and neo-pagan assemblies, the 2005 Pagan Spirit
Gathering at Wisteria, OH, held a night-time Summer Solstice Labyrinth
ritual, which was described as a “transformative, walking meditation through
an all night labyrinth formed by 1000 lighted candles.”[6]

Embarking on the Journey

Counter to the statement “we cannot be exactly sure what the labyrinths were
used for” is a wealth of literature, some easy to obtain, others that should
be kept hidden on dusty shelves. This material paints a fascinating picture
on the uses and purposes of the labyrinth as a conduit for the mystical. But
before we venture down this path, it’s important that we journey into the
recesses of ancient mythological history.

The primary historical
focal point for the lore of the labyrinth goes back to Cretan and Greek
tales of Queen Pasiphaë, her perverse sexual desire for a specific
sacrificial bull, an abominable act of bestiality, and the birth of a
strange hybrid offspring – the dreaded Minotaur, which lived in a labyrinth
built to cage him.[7]

Each year, King Minos,
the husband of Pasiphaë, demanded that seven boys and seven girls be given
as a sacrificial tribute to be devoured by the Minotaur. One year, a hero
named Theseus accompanied the children. Taking a ball of twine, he
unravelled the string as he went through the labyrinth, giving him a trail
leading back out. Once inside the labyrinth, Theseus followed the maze to
its center, where he battled with the Minotaur and eventually beat the
creature to death.

The labyrinth
containing this Minotaur was not the typical single-path labyrinth of today,
but rather a complex maze containing halls and chambers. However, esoteric
philosophers have long understood that the Minotaur maze directly
corresponds to the ancient (and now modern) spiritually-connected labyrinth
walk; the long soul journey with its many twists and turns, the ultimate
arrival at the central convergence point, the struggle with the inner
monster – and the final victory over the forces of darkness and ignorance
(which can only happen when one is illumined at the center), and the
repeated journey back to wholeness and the light of day. This esoteric
significance of the Cretan story has never been lost on the initiates of the
Mystery Schools.

Don’t forget, this
Grecian/Cretan story was immersed in the pagan religious context of the day.
That’s the metaphysical origin of the labyrinth as we can trace it. Hence
the story of Pasiphaë, with its labyrinth journey and inner battle, is of
interest first and foremost to the world of occult lorefor the
simple reason that this is the intended context.

Following the Path

In following the path
of knowledge concerning the spiritual uses of the labyrinth, one doesn’t
have to go to the Pagan Spirit Gathering or delve deeply into occult
literature. (However, we will examine esoteric writings in order to build
upon this article.) Plenty of information abounds in various reference
works. Take, for instance, The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols.

In discussing the
labyrinth as a religious tool, the Penguin Dictionary associates the
maze (read labyrinth) with the Buddhist Mandala – an aid in the spiritual
initiatory journey. Consider the various other metaphysical interpretations
of the labyrinth [note: square bracketed comments indicate an explanation
provided by this author]:

In the Kabbalistic tradition
[Author’s note: the Kabbala is a series of texts which make up the school of
Jewish mysticism] taken up by the alchemists, mazes filled a magical
function which was one of the secrets attributed to Solomon. This is why the
mazes in cathedrals, “those series of concentric circles broken at given
points on the circumference to provide a strange and tangled pathway,” came
to be called “Solomon’s Maze.” Alchemists saw them as images “of the whole
task involved in the Work, with its major difficulties; an image of the path
they needed to follow to reach the centre, arena for the two warring
natures…” This explanation would run parallel with that provided by one of
the teachings of ascetic mysticism – focusing upon oneself, along the
thousands of paths of feeling, emotion and ideas; overcoming all that stands
in the way of unalloyed intuition, and then returning to the light without
becoming lost in the byways. To enter and to emerge from the maze might be
the symbol of death and resurrection.

The maze also takes one to the
centre of one’s self, “to some hidden, inner shrine, occupied by the most
mysterious portion” of the human personality. This conjures up the mens,
the temple of the Holy Spirit in the soul at a state of grace; or again, the
depths of the unconscious. Both can only be reached by consciousness after
making many detours or by intense concentration, when that ultimate
intuition is attained and everything becomes plain through some kind of
enlightenment. Here in this crypt the lost oneness of being, scattered in a
multiplicity of desires, is rediscovered.

To reach the centre of the maze,
like a stage in the process of initiation, is to be made a member of the
invisible lodge [Author’s note: the high-calling of the Mystery Religions]
which the maze-makers always shroud in mystery or, better still, have always
been left to be filled by the finder’s own intuition…[8]

Jack Tresidder’s
Dictionary of Symbols explains:

…many labyrinths are unicursal,
having no traps but leading sinuously along a single path. These were often
used in early temples as initiation routes or more widely for religious
dances that imitated the weaving paths of the sun or planets. They
reappeared in patterns on the floors of medieval Christian churches as
“roads to Jerusalem” – paths symbolizing pilgrimage.[9]

Other reference works on symbols – and a labyrinth is both a spiritual tool
and a religious symbol – give similar definitions [as
an example, see The Herder Dictionary of Symbols]. While the meanings
are varied, they do pulse with a similar theme, even when associated with
the early Roman Catholic cathedrals. And this theme is repeated and more
deeply probed by esoteric philosophers and New Agers; it’s the path of
mysticism, esotericism, and occultism.

Reaching the Center

If the labyrinth is a
path leading to one specific point, what does the wayfarer expect to find
when he or she arrives?

On the mystical journey
to spiritual fulfillment, the middle eye of the labyrinth becomes a place of
divine illumination. Even Kimberly Lowelle, the president of The Labyrinth
Society – a network of labyrinth scholars and enthusiasts – recognizes this
basic function.

The labyrinth is an archetype of
transformation. Its transcendent nature knows no boundaries, crossing time
and cultures with ease. The labyrinth serves as a bridge from the mundane to
the divine…[10]

The promotional website
for the Breemie Labyrinth in the UK gives an almost identical explanation,
“The labyrinth is an archetypal spiritual tool, found across many times and
cultures. While a maze is a left-brain, rational puzzle, the labyrinth
involves the right side of the brain, and helps us access our intuition,
providing a portal to the Divine.”[11]

Kathy Doore, an author
on sacred spaces, freely describes the spiritual implications of the
labyrinth:

Labyrinths are temples
that enhance and balance and bring a sense of the sacred – a place where we
can confirm our unity with the cosmos, awaken our vital force and elevate
our consciousness. These structures are space/time temples where we can
behold realities that oddly enough transcend space and time. The
orientation, form and geometry of a labyrinth has symbolic as well as
spacial [sic] importance. It is a mirror for the divine…

…Moving through a
Labyrinth changes ordinary ways of perception connecting the inner and the
outer, the right brain and the left brain, the involutional and the
evolutional through a series of paths that represent the realms of the Gods
and Goddesses. These realms are associated with planetary movement as a
process that induces Union with the One.[12]

Divine illumination is
the end-goal of esoteric philosophy; it’s the central arena of occultism.

Manly P. Hall, one of
the 20th century’s greatest esoteric philosophers and an eminent
Masonic historian, tells us that the labyrinth was symbolic of man’s search
for truth.[13]
Other occult scholars tell us that the labyrinth symbolized to the people
“the difficulty of finding the Path to God.”[14]
All of this points to the same thing – the mystical realization of our own
divinity.

As Hall states in one
of his earlier books, “Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic
myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being molded. When his light
shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of
godhood…”[15]
Rosicrucian authority Christian Bernard explains this mystical goal as the
building and unfolding of the inner Temple,

The Temple of the Universe, the
Temple of the Earth and the Temple of Life are only one in the Temple of
Man. This is why the time has come to work towards rebuilding it, for the
Messianic Light must emanate from the Heavenly Jerusalem which vibrates
within us.[16]

Laying it out very
plainly, Annie Besant – an early Theosophical leader – simply said, “Man is
not to be compelled; he is to be free. He is not a slave, but a God in the
making.”[17]

Different
Paths, Same Meanings

Part and parcel of
labyrinth symbology is initiation, the mystical process of inner
transformation. Robert Macoy’s Dictionary of Freemasonry, like so
much of the esoteric literature, connects the meaning of the labyrinth with
this concept. Defining the labyrinth, Macoy wrote, “In the ancient mysteries
the passages through which the initiate made his mystical pilgrimage.”[18]

As stated above,
initiation is the process of inner transformation. To that end, esoteric
societies and occult orders employ initiation as a vital component to
spiritual advancement. Indeed, initiation is the pathway, the journey, to
mystical completeness. This is the occult metaphor of the labyrinth, a
metaphor that is played out in a host of mystical similes. Consider the
following archetypes. Keep in mind, each example is replete with historical
and religious connections to the Mystery Religions, of which the labyrinth
is but a part.[19]

Freemasonry:
When the Masonic candidate undergoes his initiation, he is led on an
invisible path from station to station throughout the Lodge room. Each point
and part of this journey is given an exoteric explanation – that is, the
real meanings are cloaked in allegory and symbolism. After completing the
journey around the Lodge, he is led to the centre of the room where he
kneels before an altar. The Worshipful Master asks what the candidate most
desires, and the initiate responds with “Light.”[20]
Know this, the light requested is not incandescent light or some other
physical light energy, but spiritual illumination.[21]

Order of the Golden Dawn:
Initiation rites such as the Ceremony of the Grade of Philosophus have the
candidate embark on a spiritual journey, following an invisible yet tangible
path throughout the Lodge room. This journey, like that of Freemasonry, is
intended to elevate the candidate’s level of transformative enlightenment.[22]

Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae
Crucis: In AMORC’s Temple ritual, Second
Portal, the student partakes in an allegorical journey searching for light
and knowledge. While engaged in the ritual, the student follows a path to
each point on the compass, and returns to a central triangle. Again, like
the two other illustrations above, this act is part of the mystical journey
towards “light” and cosmic unity.[23]

Order of the Eastern Star:
As a co-Masonic body, the OES engages in a series of ritualistic
initiations. Unlike Freemasonry, the OES ritual work is performed on a giant
floor-rug pentagram. This pentagram, with an altar placed in its centre, is
called a Labyrinth. Each of the various initiation rites – journeys on the
path to greater understanding – takes place in and around this Labyrinth.[24]
Beulah Malone, Past Grand Matron and Secretary of the OES explains:

The winding in and out
of the labyrinth symbolizes the human soul stumbling and struggling through
life; learning by mistakes and experiences that the way leading to the
supreme life and to God is not easy but is a way of testing one’s power and
strength.

By following the examples symbolized
in the lives of the heroines of our Order [Author’s note: this is part of
the OES Labyrinth journey], we may come into a full light of His Star and
into wisdom and understanding. The great magnet of our Star as it shines
forth in the world is missioned to bring Unity, the Truth of Fatherhood of
God, and Brotherhood of Man.[25]

And herein lies the
deeper spiritual meaning of the labyrinth-walk that has become so
fashionable today. It’s the symbolic journey of illumination, completely
spiritual in nature, and dependent on our works – the “journey,” or the
“testing [of] one’s power and strength.”

The path to the centre
of the labyrinth is as the invisible but tangible path leading to the
esoteric altar – it’s an initiation into the mystical.

The Path of Completion: Returning from the Center

Hundreds of Christians
have taken part in labyrinth prayer walks, and many churches across North
America and Europe are embracing this tool as a means to expand their
spiritual experience. The Rev. Jill Geoffrion, a
“certified labyrinth facilitator” and author of such books as Christian
Prayer and Labyrinths and Praying the Labyrinth, writes:

We are currently in a period of
historic labyrinth revival. Churches, retreat centers and Christian camps
are placing these prayer tools inside and outside. Christians all over the
world are installing labyrinths in their yards and gardens. Many are using
the labyrinths as a ministry tool, bringing portable versions to prisons,
national denominational conferences and church group meetings. It is
conservatively estimated that there are over 5,000 labyrinths in the United
States alone. God is blessing the use of the labyrinth; many are being drawn
closer to Jesus, experiencing healing and gaining spiritual clarity as they
pray on its path.[26]

I must admit her pronouncement sounds appealing. But this particular
statement by Geoffrion doesn’t paint the whole picture. On her labyrinth
prayer website, Geoffrion offers suggested prayers for different labyrinth
events. In dedicating a new labyrinth, she suggests that those in attendance
form a circle on the pattern and extend “the energy that is in our hearts
and minds through their hands towards the labyrinth. Following this
exercise is a meditative time where each person physically lays hands on the
labyrinth and calls forth “the image of a loved one walking this labyrinth
and receiving what is needed.” After more “imaging,” she recommends this
responsive prayer:

Community:
We dedicate this labyrinth to spiritual awakening and reawakening.

One: With
hearts extending in many directions, Let us pray…Sacred Sustainer, Way to
wholeness, Creator of possibilities, Supporter of change, Forgiving
Releaser, Freedom, Honesty, Wisdom, Hope, Joy…we thank You for the beautiful
spiritual tool on which we are standing…[27]

Geoffrion suggests
other reflective meditations for the labyrinth, including short prayers from
the “Christian Tradition,” “Egyptian Tradition,” “Hindu Tradition,” and
“Sufi Tradition.”[28]

For Christians holding
to the exclusive message of Jesus Christ in John 14:6, “I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” a serious
rift is now encountered. It’s the dilemma that exists between what
Geoffrion’s first quote described verses the religious pluralism that the
labyrinth appears to propagate. And because of the nature and metaphysical
history of the labyrinth, this spiritual pluralism is inescapable. However,
this ever-widening religious inclusiveness – which is the expression of the
esoteric idea of the Fatherhood of God – shouldn’t come as a surprise. After
all, in the labyrinth experience every path is relevant, every road is
right, every religion is valid.

Granted, Geoffrion is
but one spokesperson representing the Christian labyrinth prayer encounter.
Grace Cathedral, however, carries a little more clout. In fact, Grace, San
Francisco’s prominent Episcopal Church, has been North America’s
“pathfinder” congregation in the labyrinth movement, hosting prayer walks on
their two labyrinths for years. Moreover, Grace’s outdoor labyrinth is open
24 hours, and the church now has an involved global networking organization
dedicated to advancing the labyrinth experience. Hence, Grace has been
viewed by many Christian labyrinth advocates as the driving influence for
this new spiritual expression in North America.

There’s no doubt that one reason for Grace Cathedral’s success is their
connection to
Chartres Cathedral in France. As an ancient medieval church, Chartres hosts
an original pattern that is today’s recognized prototype for the Christian
prayer walk. Grace meticulously copied Chartres, has marketed it very well,
and is now a major spokes-church for the Chartres experience. Consider
Grace’s website titled Walking the Labyrinth: Reflections from Chartres,

A profound meditation tool, a metaphor for the spiritual path, a feminist
Christian icon, a symbol of Mary or even all Christianity, even perhaps an
almost cult-like centerpiece of a movement – the labyrinth is, most everyone
can agree, a powerful inspiration.[29]

Grace is open about the
deeper meanings of the labyrinth. On the front piece to their labyrinth
website, Grace states:

The Labyrinth is an archetype, a
divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around
the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, laid in the floor
of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220, we are rediscovering a
long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.[30]

And Grace also points out that the
labyrinth is a shared esoteric tradition:

In Native American culture it is called the Medicine
Wheel and Man in the Maze. The Celts described it as the Never Ending
Circle. It is also called the Kabala in mystical Judaism. One feature they
all share is that they have one path which winds in a circuitous way to the
center.[31]

The labyrinth exercise, Grace further
explains, should be viewed in three parts:

·
Purgation (Releasing) ~ A releasing, a letting go of the details of your
life. This is the act of shedding thoughts and distractions. A time to open
the heart and quiet the mind.

·
Illumination (Receiving) ~ When you reach the center, stay there as long as
you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for
you to receive.

·
Union (Returning) ~ As you leave, following the same path out of the center
as you came in, you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher
Power, or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the
labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your
soul reaching for.[32]

As an institution, Grace is no ordinary
church. Not only has it been extremely influential in propagating the
labyrinth prayer walk, it has been a hotbed for global interfaith work.

In the 1990’s William Swing was Bishop of
Grace. During the 1995 United Nations 50th Anniversary, Swing
proclaimed that Grace would work towards the building of a global interfaith
network. After an intense amount of travel and lobbying, Swing succeeded in
forming the United Religions Initiative – one of the world’s leading UN
affiliated inter-religious partnerships. Today, the URI is an active player
in advancing global religious unity.

Why does this matter? Remember all the
connections between various esoteric philosophies and the labyrinth concept?
A parallel runs between both themes – Unity. As a spiritual interface, and
as Grace Cathedral reminded us, the mystical labyrinth belongs to “all
religions traditions.”

Remember the Eastern Star’s labyrinth?
Unity, the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man was the proclaimed
magnetism of their Star. Likewise, this triplicate ideology is Freemasonry’s
boast, a major claim that the Masonic candidate is to understand via the
paths of initiation.

Manly P. Hall, speaking of the Masonic
interfaith ideal of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, penned
these words:

The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with
the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be
universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he
recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine,
bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing
with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth.[33]

This is the starting point of the occult
concept of “the divine.” It tells us that every path on the journey is
unique, yet each is true. In order for the mystic to move onward and upward,
to return from the center of the labyrinth, he must accept his inner
divinity. As Hall says, “…the way of salvation has been hidden within us.”[34]

This year a friend mentioned an event that was to be
held further out west a week after our winter magic festival. She described
it as a fire labyrinth ritual in which a stone labyrinth would be lit at
night to be walked with conscious intent and so mark the end of the year and
begin a new one, a shedding of the old and birthing of the divine child.[35]

Years ago Paul Clasper drew this
religious inclusiveness into a completed package,

The new mingling of faiths will
cause a fresh interpenetration of ideas and customs. Out of the encounter
some paring of outmoded encrustations will perhaps take place. The new
intercourse will fructify in more inclusive, universal faiths, perhaps even
a new world faith as a basis for the coming world civilization.[36]

What Have We
Learned?

In an earlier quote by the Rev. Jill Geoffrion,
she proclaimed that “God is blessing the
use of the labyrinth; many are being drawn closer to Jesus, experiencing
healing and gaining spiritual clarity as they pray on its path.”

On the surface this sounds great. But is
God really blessing this “new thing”? Moreover, can God bless
something that has its origins in esoteric doctrine and ancient pagan
mythologies? Adding to its historical pagan significance is the fact that
the labyrinth has never lost its occult meaning. As mentioned earlier in the
article, labyrinths are still being used, and will continue to be used, as
instruments of pagan spirituality.

If God is going to
bless labyrinth prayer journeys, how is He going to deal with Deuteronomy
12:1-14, 18:9-13 and Exodus 34:10-17? In each of these Scripture passages
God explicitly tells His people to refrain from anything used in pagan
practices. Moreover, the entire book of Jeremiah is a warning against
involvement in alternative religious practices.

If God is going to
bless labyrinth prayer journeys, how is He going to excuse the interfaith
aspect that is common throughout the movement? John 14:6 clearly states that
the only path to the Father is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

Yes, the majority of
Christians would affirm that their labyrinth walk is completely focused on
Jesus Christ. That may be true, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the
labyrinth is, by its theological nature, an inter-religious and deeply
mystical device. If God is going to bless the labyrinth experience, how is
He going to deal with 2 Corinthians 6:14-16?

Do not be yoked together with
unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or
what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between
Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?…

www.soundwitness.org

Endnotes:

[1] Manly P. Hall,
Lectures on Ancient Philosophy (Philosophical Research Society,
1984), p.357. Hall was one of the 20th century’s greatest and
most celebrated esoteric philosophers, founder of the Philosophical
Research Society, eminent Freemason, and a respected lecturer on occult
doctrines and the Mystery Religions.

[7] Joseph Campbell,
Occidental Mythology: The Masks of God (Arkana, 1964/1991), p.20.
See also The Dictionary of World Myth (Facts on File, 1995),
p.135. Other ancient labyrinth myths and stories exist that are rooted
in Egyptian and various other Mesopotamian locations.

[24] See Beulah H. Malone,
Let There Be Light; Robert Macoy, Adoptive Rite Ritual;
Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star, published by the authority
of the General Grand Chapter Order of the Eastern Star.